As you hopefully already know, this week is Appetizer party week here at Leena Eats This Blog. I threw an appetizer party and had a million photos and recipes to post about, thus necessitating an entire week’s worth of posts. Intense, I know. Lucky for you it was also sprinkled with liberal amounts of bacon, so you know it will be worth your time. On Monday, we had a Leena Cooks video of me assembling my Chinese pan fried pork dumplings, and on Wednesday, an epic post of all the appetizers served at my big-ass appetizer party. For this week’s Gastro Friday, I wanted to take a closer look at our little friend, the appetizer. My own instincts led me to hosting my own appetizer party, but I’m curious to find out why. Are appetizer parties just a trend, or has a human desire to dine on small portions of many flavors existed for a while? According to my research, food cultures all over the world have been indulging in pre-meal snacks to whet their appetites since, well, forever. What is interesting is the different roles appetizers play within different food cultures. The French did it up right and ate various hors d’oeuvres through out the meal from the late 17th century through the mid-19th century. There was literally no down time in between each course, because guests were constantly able to stuff themselves! Italians have their antipasto, which literally means “before the meal”, and the food varied based on household budget and regional specialties, as fancy as cured meats or as simple as grilled veggies. In Spain, they serve tapas at bars to help the liquor go down smoother, ranging from seafood and meats like chorizo to marinated veggies, all served on small plates when you order a drink. The Chinese dim sum restaurants serve an enormous variety of appetizers for breakfast and lunch, appetizers make up the entire meal, but never for dinner. You can expect to find dumplings, spare ribs, various bits of fish and plenty of tea. The Mediterranean and Middle East serve mezze (which means to taste or relish in Persian) such as hummus and baba ganoush with flat bread. The Scandinavian meal of smorgasbord is literally a table of buttered bread open faced sandwiches, topped with salmon, herring, and other fish and bits of meat. Apparently, this concept of “grazing” on many different flavors during a meal has become a trend among restaurants. According to The Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, more people (mainly youthful, urban clientele–ME!!) are creating meals from many different appetizers, and there are many flavors from diverse food cultures. That literally describes the concept and result of my party. Each “course” of appetizers (which mimicked a traditional dinner party in the form of appetizers, mains, sorbets and desserts) had multiple appetizers to chose from, all extremely different in flavor. Even within the courses, there were often several ethnic cuisines represented, such as classic French (my chicken liver pate), Asian (Evan’s Thai scallop ceviche, my Chinese pan-fried pork dumplings), American comfort food (Kevin’s braised brisket and mashed potato ravioli). Some of the cooking methods involved simple heating, while others needed weeks or months to work, in the case of Kevin’s smoked duck breast and my Chinese 5 spice pickled cherries. In my food culture, my appetizer party allowed my friends and I to be creative and organize multiple flavors in just a few courses. And come on. Who doesn’t like to graze?! I will definitely have to do this party again in the future. ~LTG!
